Clipped Wings – Review

Alright, I just finished Clipped Wings by Helena Hunting, first book I’ve read since I finished Nanowrimo and I’m just like… “duuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr……” My brain can’t process the amount of feels I have. I’m not just talking about your typical sad or emotional feels, I’m talking about feels you don’t know how to process. This is the kind of book that gives you so many feels you don’t know what to do with yourself or those feels. You can’t sort them, you can’t understand them, and you can’t reason with the, you just have to let them happen. Hm, kind of like Tenley and Hayden when you really think about 😉 I can’t believe it took me so long to pick up this amazing book by an AMAZING CANADIAN AUTHOR~ God, my heart is still pounding. LOVE writing reviews right after I’m done the book, the emotions are just so fresssshhh.

No one has piqued tattoo-artist, Hayden Stryker’s interest more than Tenley Paige. He’s dangerously attracted to her and has no idea why. Hayden is everything Tenley’s never had or considered wanting in a man. He’s covered in tattoos, pierced everywhere, has a very strong personality and clearly won’t take shit from anyone. Haunted by a past and nightmares she can’t escape, she finds peace in Hayden’s company and his help by asking him to tattoo a memento all over her back. Although these two are dangerously attracted to each other, they can’t help but hide the secrets to their dark pasts that might ultimately destroy what happiness they’ve found in each other.

Let’s get serious, or semi-serious. I FREAKING LOVE TENLEY AND HAYDEN. I’m pretty sure I say that about a lot of couples, but I LOVE THEM. I mostly love Hayden because he’s so different, than what we’re used to seeing. Sure there are lots of Alpha males with tattoos and bad-ass attitudes who are possessive of their girls, but Hayden is like…legit decked out, just covered in tattoos….TATTOOS EVERYWHERE and piercings everywhere! Can you imagine because I can’t!!! I haven’t hung around that crowd much and to be honest they do/did intimidate me but now (since getting my own tattoo) they’re all cool! (Maybe a little judgemental…at least the ones I’ve met, but cool).

Hayden is a bad-ass. If I met him I’d sure and he’ll be intimidated by him. But he challenges the stereotype and is rough and tough on the outside but damaged and broken on the inside. And when I say broken I’m like…traumatized, nightmares broken.

Tenley, I think, is someone I aspire to be, in a sense. Just like Hayden, she is damage beyond repair on the inside, but on the outside she seems to be holding it together – just. What I like about Tenley is her determination to try to move on, to try and be as normal as she possibly can despite her problems, her anxiety, her nightmares. She bakes, she goes to school, she works, and even falls for the bad-ass in tattoos just like any rational girl would. I’m not saying she’s a bubbly ray of sunshine or that she looks like she’s doing her best to move forward, I’m saying that she’s trying. Even on the outside she may look damaged, is shy, quiet, timid, but she makes an effort.

“You made these?” I held up the perfectly decorated, professional-quality miniature cake.
“Yup. I used to bake all the time with my mom.” She cleared her throat before she continued. “So what’d you think?”
“That I’m going to lure you back to my place and keep you there forever so you can bake those cupcakes every day for the rest of my life.” I left out the part where I would eat them off her naked body. Tenley was like a wet dream. Hot, feisty, into body modification, and she made cupcakes.

These two have serious chemistry, the kind of chemistry you wish you had with your significant other. Even if you don’t have someone it’s the kind of chemistry you know you wish you had. It’s wanting, all the time, to be with them, to be near them, even doing the simplest of things. Both Hayden and Tenley are so broken that they find solace and peace with each other and enjoy each other’s company more than most. Some people might think that’s being too clingy, but I think if people are so broken like these two are, after finding something or rather SOMEONE that brings you peace you wouldn’t want to let it go either.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this book. It’s so different. It’s so dark, and funny, and complicated and messy. But it’s also so raw and emotional. This book is so good at emotionally breaking you down, building you back up, and breaking you down all over again. It’s just a complete rollercoaster and you love it because you want to see these two lost and broken souls get back together. If only there was someone for everyone and we could all find that person just like Hayden and Tenley found each other…